Without a jobs agenda, House Republicans this week unveiled - according to Speaker Boehner himself - a no jobs Highway Bill that faces stiff opposition from all sides. What is being said about the no jobs bill that House Republicans are bringing before the Ways and Means Committee this morning:
Speaker John Boehner
“We are not making the claim that spending taxpayer money on transportation projects creates jobs."
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood
“The worst transportation bill" he’s seen in decades. “This is the most partisan transportation bill that I have ever seen."
Taxpayers for Common Sense
“Counting on the revenue that may or may not be generated from these new oil and gas leases to fund transportation priorities is nothing more than a budget gimmick that could exacerbate future budget deficits."
American Society of Civil Engineers
“On behalf of the more than 140,000 members of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), I write to express our opposition to provisions in the Revenue Title of the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act of 2012 (H.R. 7) that would abolish the Mass Transit Account of the Highway Trust Fund and the subsequent 2.8-cent transfer of funds from the Mass Transit Account to the Highway Account of the Highway Trust Fund."
American Public Transportation Association
“On behalf of the more than 1,500 members of the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), I write to express our opposition, in the strongest terms possible, to provisions in the House Committee on Ways and Means tax title of the Surface Transportation Authorization bill."
Natural Resources Defense Council
“ By essentially waging war on public transportation, House Republicans are bent on scuttling the 30-year old deal forged by President Reagan. Their bill would take the transit account -- now renamed the “alternative transportation account" -- out of the transportation trust fund and throw it into the general fund. This will add $40-billion-dollars to the budget deficit, unless some unspecified offsets are found. It’s a shell game, and worse, it drives a dagger into the backs of millions of commuters (city-dwellers and suburbanites) who ride transit."
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials
“We strongly oppose the abolition of the Mass Transit Account of the Highway Trust Fund and the associated 2.8-cent transfer of funds from the Mass Transit Account to the Highway Account of the Highway Trust Fund."
Even the conservative Club for Growth is urging House Republicans to reconsider:
“Simply put, this is a massive 846-page bill that doesn't cut any spending at all. Indeed, it spends at least $30 billion more by supplementing fuel taxes with additional revenue from other sources."
